Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage (32 page)

“Another husband?”

She reached out to pat his arm. “I will support any decision you make. I do have to admit, though, that I love Beck so much that the thought of him with another woman would tear me apart. If you can imagine another man touching Melania’s soft, silky skin and kissing her while they writhe together in passion, well, then you are not in love, my friend.”

“I will kill him!” the Elf growled, violet eyes blinking rapidly. “I have to get home to Sarphia!”

Kiernan turned to Janin with a wink. “Like shooting fish in a barrel.”

Rogan and Beck both laughed and put their arms around their friend. “He’s done for,” observed Beck.

“Looks that way,” admitted Rogan.

The easy laughter came to an abrupt halt when a shout of alarm pierced the darkening sky. “What in demon’s hell is that?” a man on the street asked, pointing to the rooftop of a cutlery shop lining Dannery Row.

Kiernan looked up at a black, winged creature perched on the tile roof.

“It can’t be,” breathed Beck.

“What is it? A bird?” asked Kiernan.

“No. It is Avalon Ravener,” Beck responded and jumped off the dais.

Kiernan’s heart sank. The nightmare was not over after all.

The creature that was Avalon let out a high-pitched screech and took flight, diving toward a small group of people on the street.

“Run!” Beck shouted to the bystanders, waving his arms to get their attention.

Those that noticed the danger screamed and ran in an attempt to dodge out of the way of the flying beast. Beating powerful, leathery wings, the creature flew low over the heads of the frightened runners and slashed at one man with her front claws, sending him in a vicious tumble across the ground.

Turning in a sweeping arc for another pass over the people, the creature suddenly pulled up and let out an excited scream. With a renewed burst of force, the beast flapped its wings furiously to close the distance to the people, and then reached forward with taloned feet to grip the shoulders of a little girl running on the cobblestone road toward the palace.

A little girl with black ringlets.

A pitiful roar erupted into the night. Baya raced below Kenley’s dangling feet, leaping up and trying to pull her free with her teeth. In order to evade the cat, Avalon wheeled around sharply and climbed higher into the air.

“Kenley!” Kiernan screamed and sprinted off the platform.

Rogan was right behind her and called a fiery spear to life in his hands. Kiernan heard the distinctive summons of fire and stopped, gripping his arm. “No! If you hit Avalon, she will drop Kenley!”

Twenty or more Royal Scarlet Sabers swarmed out of the palace, but Kiernan knew there was nothing they could do to help.

Shouts and screams filled the evening, and Kiernan realized that the loudest was hers as she watched the winged abomination soar higher and higher until finally disappearing behind the rooftops with her baby.

Airron took off running in a sprint, and shifted into his eagle form, shooting into the night after the departing monster. The Sabers gave chase from the ground.

Kiernan began to sink to the ground, but Beck found her then and caught her under the arms. “Airron will find them, Kiernan,” he said and pressed her face into his shoulder. “Airron will find them.”

He was right. Airron had saved Beck, and now he would save Kenley. She refused to think differently because any other outcome was unthinkable.

“Come on.” Beck led her, Rogan, and Janin back to the dais and they sat on the steps, huddled together. A despondent and whimpering Baya sat before her and put her head in Kiernan’s lap. She stroked the white fur and bittersweet memories of her father, Bajan, rose to the surface.

Within moments, her father strode over to them with a trailing group of Sabers demanding to know what was happening.

She let Beck explain. She could not find any words within reach.

Kiernan did not know how much later, but Airron reappeared from one of the side streets off Dannery Row wearing one of the Saber’s scarlet tunics and black leggings. She jumped to her feet in a expectant rush.

He was alone.

Beck was standing several paces away with his back to her. She saw him glance up at Airron and then he slowly turned her way with a look of fierce determination coloring his features. He simply stood there and watched her, like a racer waiting for the signal to go.

The thought was written all over his face.

A bodyshifter could not rescue Kenley, but a Mage could.

He was asking her to make a choice. To choose between him and their daughter.

Eyes filled with liquid, she started toward him numbly.

Airron intercepted her. “Sorry, Kiernan. She went down and then must have used an invisibility spell…

She barely heard him.

She kept walking.

When she reached Beck, she swallowed back the lump in her throat so she could speak. “You said you would not ask me again.”

“The stakes are higher.”

“Where do you have to go?”

“I am not sure exactly.”

“How long will it take?”

“The book did not say.”

Green eyes met blue in a connection so deep, so pure that it defied words. But, there was another bond pulling at them that was equally as strong.

“She is so small and defenseless, Beck.”

“I know.”

There was a long pause.

“Go. Just go,” she whispered in agony.

There was no goodbye. Beck must have known she could not handle it. He took off at a sprint for the royal stables and a few moments later raced by her on Chasin toward the gates of Nysa.

Despite his promise, he forced her to make a choice, and she did.

She chose Kenley.

Beck made it to Bardot in well under two hours. The foam at Chasin’s mouth and his labored breathing concerned him, but it could not be helped and he silently thanked his old horse for not letting him down.

Two guards stationed in front of the grate to Aquataine banged fists to chest in unison when they saw him approach.

Beck offered the same salute and asked one of the guards to take care of Chasin. “He has been running hard, so rub him down good and provide him with plenty of oats when he has had time to rest.” The last words were shouted over his shoulder as he took off at a sprint for his home. There was only one item that he would take the time to collect and that was the compass that could lead him through the tangle of magic to Callyn-Rhe. Without it, he could wander the Puu Rainforest for an eternity and never find the city.

He ignored all of the shouts and greetings on his way to the palace and back again.

Arriving at the grate, he yanked open the grille with a bang and went through, diving head first onto the slide. The usual thrill of the ride was lost on him, all of his thoughts on Kenley. He had been a captive of Avalon Ravener. There was not a shred of decency in the woman, and he knew she would not hesitate to kill an innocent child if it brought her closer to her goals.

Within seconds, he splashed into the warm lagoon just outside of Barbary. Kicking to the surface, he swam to shore and raced to the second cavern and dove in, not bothering to use one of the tethered rafts or wait for a watershifter escort.

Since it was morning here, the waterways were busy. People recognized him and waved. One young boy riding a porpoise had to leap out of his way as he cut through the water, his strong arms pumping vigorously.

He arrived at Digby’s small, limestone stilt house praying that the watershifter was home. There was no one who could get him to Sarphia faster than Digby.

Pulling himself from the water, he flopped down on the wooden deck in front of the house to catch his breath. A door opened and the wide smile of Digby gleamed down at him.

“Thank the Highworld you are home, Digby.”

The watershifter knelt and observed, not for the first time, “Always in a hurry, Prince Beck.”

“This time it is different, Digby. I need your help.”

The watershifter was instantly alert. “Whatever you need, Your Grace. You know that.”

Beck told him as much as he dared take the time to say. As soon as Digby heard the story of Kenley’s kidnapping, he stood quickly. “Get in the boat.”

Beck did as instructed, and Digby went inside his house to tell his wife, Liliana, what had happened. A few moments later, the watershifter rushed out of the door, threw a pack onto the deck of the boat, and dove into the water. “Sit back and try to relax, Your Grace,” he said when his head resurfaced. “There is food in the pack. Sarphia is a two-day ride, but I will do what I can to shorten the trip by picking up two more watershifters at the next village.”

Beck nodded and sat down on a crate on the deck, his mind whirling with doubt and fear. He was not lying to Kiernan when he told her he knew very little of the journey ahead of him. The very last passage in The Protetor said only,
“Strength lies in mastering others, but true power lies in mastering yourself. Your true power awaits you with the Malakai, the enemy of Callyn-Rhe, in the tribal village of Torg.”

Tribal village of Torg? He had never heard of this place. How long would it take to get there? What would be required of him once he arrived? Who were the Malakai? He had questioned Baya once through Kenley, but the Draca Cat had never heard of the Malakai and insisted that the Moshie were her mortal enemy.

Beck remembered only too well how much the Moshies and Draca Cats despised each other. He was on hand to witness a vicious attack by the apes on Kiernan’s bondmate, Bajan, when traveling with him through the Puu. The encounter left Bajan badly wounded and Airron with a broken leg.

Beck decided he would begin his search in Callyn-Rhe to speak to the Sovereign, Moombai. If anyone could lead him to the Draca Cats’ ancient enemy, it would be their leader.

“It is called Farout Falls?” Kiernan asked Airron, studying the map on the table in front of her. It was the middle of the night, but none of them could sleep. Until pure exhaustion overtook her body, sleep would not come easy again until her daughter was safely home.

Beck was never coming home.

Airron slapped his hand down on the southern tip of Deepstone. “Yes, that is where Avalon took Beck when she kidnapped him, and she will probably do so with Kenley as well.” They were using the palace War Room to take advantage of the charts and historical records of Massa.

Kiernan shook her head. “It does not make sense that she would take her there when she knows that you can find her.”

“She wants us to follow! Think about it. Why else would she take Kenley? She wants us to follow so she can destroy the
Savitars
once and for all. Whether she is seeking revenge for the death of her brother or is simply being guided by the dark magic flowing through her body, I do not know. I only know that she wants us dead. All of us.”

Kiernan rubbed her hands over her face. It was just so hard to think straight with her daughter’s life in danger. Finally, she threw her hands up. “All right. I have to be doing something. Beck is following his path and I must follow mine, which appears to lead to Farout Falls.”

“Who should we take?”

“You will not be doing this without us,” declared Rogan from the door. He and Janin postponed their trip home and she was grateful for their support, but to enter this fight with Avalon Ravener? This was not the same as six years ago. The two Dwarves now had their own children to consider.